- Climate changes
In recent years, potato producers in Romania have faced increasingly difficult climate changes. For example, in 2021, the production of one hectare of potatoes was at least 40% lower compared to 2020, primarily due to a delayed and extremely atypical season, with fluctuations between periods of excess humidity and drought, between cold periods with late frosts and hot summer. 2023 reminds us that potato production is getting more difficult, risky, expensive, and stressful. Low yields due to weather conditions (late planting, dry and very hot July, too heavy rains in August) up to -50 % in selected areas. This will get a lower quality (low starch content -4% vs. 2022), and we are expecting higher warehousing losses and a higher processing factor. Under these conditions, the sharp decline of this culture will continue, and we will be more and more dependent on imports, which in 2021 exceeded 75% of the potatoes needed for consumption.
The potato situation for
seed multiplication is even worse because farmers are no longer motivated to produce seed because of the high costs and the risk to which the farm is subject. Thus, we are forced to import approx. 90% of what is needed next year. The quarantine of a farm due to the detection of a quarantine organism involves the destruction of any quantity of potatoes of any kind produced on that farm without any compensation and the prohibition of potato production for the next seven years.
"As measures to compensate for the crisis of the labor force in agriculture, I believe that we must pay more and more attention to digitalization and high-tech farms, the use of drones in agriculture, autonomous machines and equipment, optical sorters equipped with artificial intelligence, etc."
I can mention that until 2014, there was a government decision (no. 299/11.04.2021) that compensated the farmers affected by these quarantine organisms, but this measure was not extended.
1. The evolution of the areas established in Romania with potatoes according to the data APIA
|
Years
|
2013
|
2014
|
2015
|
2016
|
2017
|
2018
|
2019
|
2020
|
2021
|
2022
|
|
Acres (ha)
|
54000
|
48000
|
42500
|
38500
|
35017
|
33246
|
27930
|
31914
|
34653
|
32139
|
2. Lack/weak involvement of the RO government.
The potato, "the second bread of the country," being a basic food, should represent an absolute priority for the Ministry of Agriculture, but due to the indifference shown towards this culture in the last 15 years, we ended up buying it mostly from imports.
In the last 15 years, favorable conditions for the operation and protection of potato producers have not been created, but we are champions in the application of European rules and restrictions in potato seed production.
Due to the hard competition coming mainly from the large potato-producing countries of Western Europe + Poland, countries that have found more or less visible solutions to support their producers to capitalize on their surplus goods of the highest quality often doubtfully and at dumping prices on our market, the consumer potato produced in Romania is frequently valued below the cost price, a situation generating great economic losses.
.Romanian farmers are poorly capitalized, which is why they need government support for the construction of storage spaces, efficient irrigation systems, packaging, and processing lines to be able to compete on the market with their neighboring farmers in the west. The initiation of programs such as "The First Potato Warehouse," "The First Packaging Line," and "The first modern irrigation installation" would greatly help the potato producers.
3. Lack of labor force
Farmers and agricultural landowners face major difficulties in finding human resources. Whether it is planting, harvesting, sorting, washing, or repairing agricultural machinery, the lack of personnel is a constant problem and increasingly affects the smooth running of agricultural activities. This crisis is fueled by several factors, such as labor migration abroad in search of a better life, declining interest in agricultural work, and an aging population in rural areas. This problem negatively affects the productivity and economic growth of our country's agriculture. The promise of higher wages, better opportunities for growth, and favorable working conditions persuade young people to emigrate.
As measures to compensate for the crisis of the labor force in agriculture, I believe that we must pay more and more attention to digitalization and high-tech farms, the use of drones in agriculture, autonomous machines and equipment, optical sorters equipped with artificial intelligence, etc.
Some of the better-capitalized farmers who managed to access European funds are already using this modern equipment (drones, autonomous tractors, optical sorters).
